Funny Food Photography: Why I Shoot Food With a Sense of Humour

I’m a commercial food photographer in London, and I’ll be honest: some of my favourite pictures are the ones that make people laugh before they’ve even clocked what the food is. Thats why I love funny food photography

Food photography has a reputation for being serious. Perfect steam, perfect crumb, a sprig of something green placed with tweezers. I do plenty of that, and I’m good at it. But the images people remember, and the ones that get shared, are usually the ones with a joke in them.

What is funny food photography?

Funny food photography is a still life or styled food image where the idea is the point. A sausage roll in a tiny hard hat. A pint that looks like it’s had a bad day. Two eggs having a row over a toast soldier.

It isn’t a gimmick, though. Every one of these images still has to do the basic job of making food look delicious. If the joke lands but the food looks dreadful, you’ve failed twice. Getting both right is the hard bit, and it’s what I enjoy most about being a comedic food photographer.

The funny food images I’ve shot

I know it’s an obvious one, but this always raises a smile.

Or just pure over the top over indulgence.

A lot of these start as a daft thought on the tube or something I scribbled on the back of a receipt. The ones that survive are the ones that still make me smile after I’ve lit them, shot them and stared at them for an hour.

How I make a joke look good

Funny food photography is harder than straight food photography, and here’s why.

The lighting has to be right first. A joke in bad light just looks like a mistake. I light comedy shoots exactly like I’d light a serious product shot, with proper shape and shadow, so the food still looks great.

The styling has to be tight. Silly ideas need very careful execution. One crooked prop and the whole thing reads as sloppy rather than clever.

The idea has to be understood in a second. People scroll fast. If you have to explain a joke, it’s gone. I keep the frame simple, the background clean and the gag obvious.

The food still comes first. It always has to look like something you’d want to eat, or drink, or at least pinch a chip off.

Why humour works for food and drink brands

I’m not going to write you a sales pitch, but there’s a simple reason funny images travel. People share things that make them laugh. A good joke gets a second look, a screenshot and a message to a mate saying “look at this”. A beautiful but forgettable bowl of pasta rarely gets that treatment.

That’s why I’ve shot comedic work across food and drink. The same approach applies whether it’s a pint, a pickle martini, a burger or a bag of crisps. The product is still the hero. The joke just gives people a reason to stop scrolling and look at it.

Based in London, shooting everywhere

I work as a food photographer in London, and I shoot funny, playful and conceptual food photography for brands, agencies and magazines. If you’re searching for a comedic food photographer, a funny food photographer, or someone who can shoot humour in food photography without it looking cheap, you’re in the right place.

The serious work and the silly work are the same job. Both need good light, careful styling and an eye for what makes something look appetising.

See more

You can see more of my work on my food photography portfolio and my drinks photography page, or browse my comedic portraits if you’d like to see the funny side of things with people in them.

If you’ve got a daft idea involving food, I’d honestly like to hear it. The best pictures usually start with someone saying “this is probably stupid, but…”

You can see more of my work on my agents website www.agentatlarge.co.uk